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Neuroeducation – ActaMelia

Category: Neuroeducation

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Let’s get rid of our myths! Throwing out the learning styles and the learning pyramid

Unicorn

By Sophie Lanoix

Neuroscience is booming and the amount of brain research has exploded in recent years. There is a growing understanding of how the brain works and, more importantly for us, how humans learn. However, we are realizing that some widely held beliefs are wrong and that many myths persist about how the brain works and its impact on learning.

A Quebec study (Blanchette Sarrasin et al., [accepted]) identified the five most popular neuromyths among Quebec teachers:

  1. Students learn best when they receive information according to their preferred learning style.
  2. Students have a predominant intelligence profile, e.g., logicomathematical, musical, interpersonal, which must be taken into account in teaching.
  3. Differences between students with dominant left and dominant right brains may help to explain differences in learning observed in students.
  4. Short coordination exercises, such as touching your left ankle with your right hand and vice versa, can improve communication between the two hemispheres of the brain.
  5. We use about 10% of our brain.

I have not found a similar study for myths about workplace training, but I often hear training professionals dispelling these same myths. It’s high time to put an end to them! In this article, let’s start by addressing learning styles and the learning pyramid.

Myth #1
Training needs to be tailored to the learner’s learning style

The myth

You’ve heard it before, that’s for sure. Regularly, someone will proclaim that we have to adapt our training to the learning styles of the participants because we learn better if we receive the information in our learning style.

What is true in this myth

There are studies that show that a person may have a preference for receiving information. As a result, several studies have tried to prove that a teaching method adapted to the learning style is more effective and increases retention or comprehension.

The reality

Unfortunately, no study has been able to prove that we learn better when training is adapted to our preference.

Evidence that this is a myth

  1. In 2015, Rogowski et al. hypothesized that “visual” people would learn better with written words and “auditory” people would learn better with an audiobook. Their study showed that both groups of learners learned better with the written text than with the audiobook.
  2. In 2017, Cuevas et al. also tested learning styles with university students. They found that learners who received the training material adapted to their preference did not retain information better than learners who received it in another style. On the other hand, they found that learners who received the information visually learned better than all learners who received it auditorily.
  3. In 2017, Paschler et al. conducted a review of the literature on learning styles. They concluded that “there is currently no adequate evidence to justify the use of learning styles in educational practice.”

The impact on our ways of doing things

Now that we all know it’s a myth, we must:

  1. Stop talking about learning styles to stop propagating the myth
  2. Vary the teaching methods and especially the ways of explaining
  3. Accompany verbal explanations with graphs or pictures
  4. Stop wasting time and money trying to adapt training to the learning styles of our participants

Myth #2
We only remember 5% of what we hear

I often hear training professionals cite the “learning pyramid” to justify their pedagogical design. But where does this famous pyramid come from? And what is its validity?

The evolution of the myth

In 1946, Edgar Dale proposed a hierarchy of learning methods for adults. In this version, we can see teaching methods in a pyramid, without any numbers.

Dale's cone of experience, 1946
Dale, 1946

Over the years, people have misquoted Dale. In turn, these people have also been misquoted. One thing led to another as in the telephone game, and in 1960 Dale’s pyramid came to contain percentages — very accurate and all rounded to the nearest 5 or 10% — and the list, “People generally remember…”.

Wiman & Meriheny, 1960, based on Dale, 1946

In 2002, Maine’s National Training Laboratories went even further and added the concepts of passive and active learning methods to the pyramid.

National Training Laboratories, Maine, 2002, based on Dale 1969

Several groups of researchers have studied the evolution of this myth and its explanation. Subramony et al. and Letrud, K., & Hernes, S. have written several articles on the subject from the perspective of the history of the myth in order to find out when the numbers appeared in Dale’s original scheme and was thus distorted. To my knowledge, no study has reproduced the figures in the pyramid.

Why the myth is stubborn

Because the theory seems valid and sensible, and because it supports what is instinctively believed about active and passive learning methods, it is widely adopted and repeated everywhere by teachers and trainers of all kinds.

The impact on the way we do things

Now that we all know it’s a myth, we must:

  1. Stop talking about the learning pyramid to stop spreading the myth.
  2. Select teaching methods based on our learning objectives, including lecturing, demonstrations and collaborative learning.

What do you think about this? Will you change your ways, knowing that these are myths?

Why is it so hard to get rid of your beliefs? Simply because we believe in our sources. In Blanchette Sarrasin’s study (accepted), teachers cite university, logic and practical observation as sources related to their adherence to myths. Where do your myths come from? From your colleagues, from your readings in popular science journals?

References

Blanchette Sarrasin, J., Riopel, M., & Masson, S. (accepté). Les neuromythes chez les enseignants québécois : à quel point sont-ils fréquents et quelle est leur origine? Éducation Canada.

Cuevas, J., & Dawson, B. L. (2018). A test of two alternative cognitive processing models: Learning styles and dual coding. Theory and Research in Education, 16(1), 40-64. doi.org/10.1177/1477878517731450

Letrud, K., & Hernes, S. (2016). The diffusion of the learning pyramid myths in academia: an exploratory study. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 48(3), 291-302.

Letrud, K., & Hernes, S. (2018). Excavating the origins of the learning pyramid myths. Cogent Education, 5(1), 1518638.

Masson, S. 19 et 26 novembre 2019. « Neuromythes ». Cours Neuroéducation et didactique générale. Montréal : Université de Montréal. Montréal : UQAM.

Pashler, H., McDaniel, M., Rohrer, D., & Bjork, R. (2008). Learning styles: Concepts and evidence. Psychological science in the public interest, 9(3), 105-119.

Rogowsky, B. A., Calhoun, B. M., & Tallal, P. (2015). Matching learning style to instructional method: Effects on comprehension. Journal of educational psychology, 107(1), 64. doi :10.1037/a0037478

Subramony, D. P., Molenda, M., Betrus, A. K., & Thalheimer, W. (2014). Previous attempts to debunk the mythical retention chart and corrupted Dale’s Cone. Educational Technology, 17-21.

Subramony, D. P., Molenda, M., Betrus, A. K., & Thalheimer, W. (2014). The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: A Bibliographic Essay on the Corrupted Cone. Educational Technology, 22-31.

Subramony, D. P., Molenda, M., Betrus, A. K., & Thalheimer, W. (2014). Timeline of the Mythical Retention Chart and Corrupted Dale’s Cone. Educational Technology, 31-34.

Tokuhama-Espinosa, T. (2018). Neuromyths: Debunking false ideas about the brain. WW Norton & Company.

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Learn Better! Tips to get the most out of your training

Lightbulb surrounded by content icons

By Sophie Lanoix

We are all learners. Sometimes voluntary, sometimes forced. In both cases, attending training takes up valuable time in our busy schedules. Why not make the most of it then?

Download my learning log

As a participant, we generally have little or no influence on the design of the training. What we have influence on is our motivation to learn and our attention during the training. We can also use some concrete tips to increase retention and transfer what we’ve learned in training to the workplace.

Children are not the only ones who have to learn things by heart! As an adult, we also sometimes need to be able to remember something quickly in order to apply it without the need for a checklist. Examples:

  • Pilot, firefighter, police officer: emergency procedures
  • Air traffic controller: airport and airway data
  • Physician and nurse: medical procedures
  • Sales representative: characteristics of a new product
  • Exams: for university, for a position, to enter a professional order, to obtain certification

What You Can Do BEFORE Training

Tip 1: Believe in Your ABILITY to Learn

Do you think you are able to learn, improve and change? If so, you have a growth mindset. If, on the contrary, you believe that you are good or not in a field and that there is no point in even trying to learn and improve, you have a fixed mindset. If you tend to have a fixed mindset, remember that your skills are the result of your neural connections and that they change continuously, regardless of your age and natural abilities.

If you approach training believing that you can learn and improve, you increase your chances of retaining the content of the training. You will also be better able to imagine yourself doing the task or exercising the skill, which increases your chances of applying what you learn during the training. Most importantly, you activate your error correction mechanisms, which will help you improve your learning and performance. We always learn from our mistakes… or at least we should!

Tip 2: Know WHY You Are Participating in Training

When do you familiarize yourself with the learning objectives of a training course? Before you register or when the training begins? If you want to maximize retention and transfer, you should know WHY you are attending training well before you arrive in class or start the online course.

By being aware of how training can help you in your daily work, you will be better able to project yourself into the future completing the task. Most importantly, by making concrete links between the content and your work, you will increase the perceived value of the training for you. These two very important elements increase the likelihood that you will put what you learn in training into action in the workplace.

Your participation in training should be part of your learning or skill development plan. What is the link between this training and the others in which you have or will participate? How will this training contribute to your personal or career development?

Finally, you must also ensure that you have the prerequisites for training in order to properly integrate new knowledge and skills. Do you have any doubts about the usefulness of training for you? Discuss this with your supervisor, colleagues or former participants.

Tip 3: Plan PRACTICE Opportunities

You may be able to imagine doing a new task or exercising a new skill, but until you actually do it, you do not have acquired that skill. How many times have you enthusiastically participated in training and never put anything into practice? This is a monumental waste of your time, the trainer’s time and money for the organization. From the moment you register for training, you should immediately identify opportunities to apply what you will learn. Discuss this with your supervisor and colleagues to clarify expectations.

This conversation is also the ideal time to negotiate a longer time to complete the task to properly integrate new knowledge or practices and discuss your right to make mistakes. If your supervisor does not want you to practise your new skill, why is he or she paying for the training? The opportunity to practise will not come for another year? Consider postponing your participation to a more appropriate time. It is unlikely that you will remember the content in a year’s time, if you have never practised it before.

What You Can Do DURING Training

Tip 4: Be ATTENTIVE and Reduce Distractions

You have just paid a lot of money to attend a conference in your field. The speakers are very interesting, but as in all conferences, they follow one another in a long series of lectures. When you focus on the content of a lecture and follow the presenter’s explanations, the areas that are activated in your brain are the same as if you were doing the action yourself. Your learning already begins (I have already touched on this aspect from the designer’s point of view in this article).

Moreover, if you are constantly distracted by your emails and all kinds of notifications on your phone or computer, you absorb less knowledge than when you pay full attention. One study even showed that just having your smartphone in your field of vision reduces the cognitive ability to learn. Simply storing your phone in a bag or leaving it in another room increases retention and this difference is even more pronounced for people considered dependent on their phone.

Tip 5:
SLOW Down!

Whether at a conference, in a classroom course or in an online course, you are sometimes placed in a situation of passive learning. But you can still become active learners!

To listen more actively to a presenter, interrupt the flow of information and participate actively. Whenever possible, ask questions, re-explain or rephrase the content that has just been explained.

To be more active when reading a text or an online course, interrupt your reading to reflect on the content. Ask yourself questions about what you have just read and make connections with other concepts, knowledge and experiences. Try to anticipate what comes next, explain what you have just read and above all try to remember what you have just read. You can also search for the definition of a word. If you have difficulty stopping naturally, plan your pauses, for example at the end of a chapter, section or every 30 minutes.

What You Can Do AFTER Training

Tip 6: Make Efforts to REMEMBER Contents

Ask around you: how do people study to retain content? Most often, people reread their notes, sometimes highlighting important passages. According to studies—and experience!—this is an inefficient learning strategy! If you want to spend less time studying AND remember more content, try the following strategies:

  • Try to remember content WITHOUT reading it first. You can use cue cards or applications such as cram.com, flashcard.online, goconqr, etc. (there is a very long list of such applications).
  • Explain the content. Prepare a list of questions that start with Why? and How? about content and try to answer them. Don’t forget to check if you have the right explanation! It would be silly to learn well wrong information…
  • Create a diagram of the content. By drawing a diagram that connects the concepts you are studying, you will need to think more deeply about them and the knowledge will be more ingrained.

Tip 7: SPACE Your Learning Periods

When you try to learn something, do you study for long hours a few times or do you plan shorter, more frequent learning periods? If you feel that it is more effective to study for a long time and less often, you are not alone… but you are wrong.

Studies clearly show that you retain much more with learning periods spaced over time than with learning periods grouped in the same day. If grouped learning seems more effective, it is because after a few hours or minutes, the knowledge is fresh in the memory, and therefore easier to remember. However, the exercises done under these conditions no longer consolidate the knowledge in your memory. On the other hand, if you resume your study the next day or a few days later, you need to reactivate the knowledge in the brain, which is more difficult, and you feel you are learning less well. Don’t get fooled! It is in these moments that you consolidate knowledge and learn it for the longer term. In the very words of one of my participants: learning hurts the brain!

Tip 8: Seek Honest FEEDBACK—Even If It Hurts!

Who really likes to receive feedback… be honest! Getting our mistakes and areas for improvement pointed out is hard on the ego and on the feeling of self-efficacy. However, it is an essential and truly effective mechanism for learning.

There are two types of feedback: positive feedback, which confirms that we have done an action correctly or given a good answer, and negative feedback, which confirms that we have made a mistake. Both types of feedback are important for learning and have different and complementary effects in the brain. Positive feedback releases dopamine and gives us a sense of well-being, which increases our motivation to learn and continue. Negative feedback triggers error correction mechanisms that, among other things, helps us focus our attention to our error to modify our knowledge or abilities.

There is no point in asking for feedback if you do not intend to change your actions. With feedback, therefore, comes automatically a personal reflection on our practices, paradigms and ways of doing things. Others can give us feedback, but they can’t change us! A real motivation to learn and improve is therefore necessary to receive feedback. People who are persistent and more successful are the ones who, by trying to improve, trigger the chemical reactions associated with positive feedback by correcting their mistakes.

So, Do You Know How to Learn?

Today’s working world is uncertain, volatile and constantly changing. The pace of these changes is only increasing, and we must all be able to adapt continuously to new work processes and technologies. Learning to learn has become an essential competence to lead a successful career with a sense of accomplishment and enjoyment at work.

The few tips outlined in this article are certainly not the only ones you can implement to promote retention and transfer of your learning. You can also, for example, take care of your health, walk every day, drink water, stay away from the screens for a while, meditate, cultivate your curiosity, be in a state of mind that encourages you to accept new ways of doing things, etc.

After reading this article, let me know: What tips did you already know? Do you know how to make the most of your time in training? What tips do you want to start using? Do you have any other tips to share? Please share your thoughts in the comments.


References

Bradley, M. M., Costa, V. D., Ferrari, V., Codispoti, M., Fitzsimmons, J. R., & Lang, P. J. (2015). Imaging distributed and massed repetitions of natural scenes: spontaneous retrieval and maintenance. Human Brain Mapping, 36(4), 1381-1392. doi:10.1002/hbm.22708

Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K. A., Marsh, E. J., Nathan, M. J., & Willingham, D. T. (2013). Improving students’ learning with effective learning techniques: promising directions from cognitive and educational psychology. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1), 4-58. doi:10.1177/1529100612453266

Masson, S. 17 septembre 2019. « Principe 2 : Activation répétée ». Cours Neuroéducation et didactique générale. Montréal : Université de Montréal. Montréal : UQAM.

Masson, S. 12 novembre 2019. « Principe 7 : État d’esprit ». Cours Neuroéducation et didactique générale. Montréal : Université de Montréal. Montréal : UQAM.

Monchi, O., Petrides, M., Petre, V., Worsley, K., & Dagher, A. (2001). Wisconsin Card Sorting Revisited: Distinct Neural Circuits Participating in Different Stages of the Task Identified by Event-Related Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging. The Journal of Neuroscience, 21(19), 7733-7741.

Moser, J. S., Schroder, H. S., Heeter, C., Moran, T. P., & Lee, Y. H. (2011). Mind your errors: Evidence for a neural mechanism linking growth mind-set to adaptive posterror adjustments. Psychological Science, 22(12), 1484-1489.

Roussel, J. (2011). Gérer la formation, viser le transfert. Montréal: Guérin, éditeur ltée.

Ward, A. F., Duke, K., Gneezy, A., & Bos, M. W. (2017). Brain drain: the mere presence of one’s own smartphone reduces available cognitive capacity. Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, 2(2), 140-154. doi:10.1086/691462

Wilkinson, L., Tai, Y. F., Lin, C. S., Lagnado, D. A., Brooks, D. J., Piccini, P., & Jahanshahi, M. (2014). Probabilistic classification learning with corrective feedback is associated with in vivo striatal dopamine release in the ventral striatum, while learning without feedback is not. Human Brain Mapping, 35(10), 5106-5115. doi:10.1002/hbm.22536

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Using Active Approaches to Support Learning

Neurons Blue

Using Active Approaches to Support Learning

Sophie Lanoix

By Sophie Lanoix

The lecture has had a hard life in recent years. As training specialists know, “active” learning methods are much more effective than “passive” methods. The lecture, seen as a passive learning activity, has therefore almost become a pariah amongst workplace training methods and to suggest using it sometimes amounts to blasphemy.

But why are active methods so much favoured? And are we really right? And to begin with, what is the difference between active and passive learning methodologies?

When Is a Learning Activity Active or Passive?

I often hear subject matter experts refer to an online course as “interactive” because it contains several videos and images that learners must click on to read additional information. As you have guessed it, this is not the right definition of “interactivity” in training.

In learning, when we say that a method is “active,” it means that the learner is focused on the learning content and that he or she must produce something with that content. Let’s illustrate this concept with an example.

Consider the case where a learner has to click on an element in an online course. This action can be “active” or “passive” depending on the context in which the learner must make the gesture of clicking on the element.


Question Slide

“Active” Learning Activity

The learner clicks on one of four elements as an answer to a question.

This is an “active” action, because the learner must think about the question, analyze the four elements and consciously choose one of them as an answer. His brain is then engaged in learning, as he must use knowledge stored in his memory to answer the question. In this case, they must produce a response choice.


“Passive” Learning Activity

The learner clicks on an image to bring up the next text box to read.

Here, the learner does not have to select anything related to the content. Clicking on the image to bring up the next text box is equivalent to clicking on “next” to bring up the next page of the course. The learner has nothing to produce with the content.

The same logic applies to classroom training. When the learner sits and listens to a lecture or watches a video, they are considered passive their learning. When answering questions, trying to solve a problem or analyze a situation, they are considered active in their learning, as they must activate their brain and use their knowledge to make connections between concepts.

Why Does the Brain Have to Be Active to Learn?

First, why do you offer training in your organization? Generally, because you want people to change their behaviour or adopt new ones. For example, if you provide leadership training, it is to make managers change the way they manage and be more effective and efficient. If you provide training on the use of a forklift truck, it is because you want employees to adopt safe behaviours when using the forklift.

To answer the question, “Why does the brain have to be active to learn? ,” you have to look at what’s happening in the brain while a person is learning. A person’s behaviour depends on their neural connections. To change behaviour, we must therefore create new neural or even create new neurons. This is the very definition of learning in neuroscience.

When a person learns a new skill or behaviour, neurons are activated and they connect together. If these neurons activate and connect together often enough, a path is created between the neurons, like a path in the forest. When the path is well traced, the skill or behaviour is well anchored, and the person is able to reproduce it. The more the trail is used, the deeper it is traced, the easier it is to follow. So, the more often you perform a gesture, the better and easier it is to remember.

Hebb’s Rule: Cells that fire together, wire together

Some examples of active learning activities

In an asynchronous online course

  • Associating an image with a word or concept
  • Answering a multiple-choice question, whether the options are presented with words or images
  • Putting process steps in order
  • Dragging and dropping a word or image into the right area
  • Identifying errors or good elements in an image
  • Etc.

In a physical or virtual classroom

  • Explaining a concept to a colleague
  • Answering questions
  • Writing a case study
  • Explaining the consequences of an action
  • Analyzing the possible options for solving a scenario
  • Making the gestures of the psychomotor skill to be acquired (driving the forklift, using medical imaging equipment, handling an instrument, etc.)
  • Practising a communication skill in a role-playing game
  • Etc.

So, Should You Throw Away Passive Methods?

That being said, we also learn when we read a text or listen to a masterful presentation, even if we consider them passive learning activities. Studies have shown that when an action is observed, the same neurons are activated in the brain as when the action is performed. So, if a learner is attentive and able to mentally follow the actions that the trainer explains during the lecture, learning begins in their brain. However, behaviour or knowledge will not be well anchored and active learning methods will be needed to consolidate them.

Passive methods such as lectures, video playback or reading are still useful. They are preferred when the task is completely new to the learner, or when the risk of error is very high. They will be used to lay the foundation knowledge that learners can then use to practise the skill with more active learning methods. In addition, lectures allow trainers to explain nuances more effectively than a text, to model behaviours and values and to stimulate learners’ motivation.

Conclusion

I admit it: I am one of those people who make life difficult for lectures and passive learning methods. However, I also recognize their value in certain circumstances. I still remain a strong supporter of active methods, especially considering that learners who enter our workplace training generally have prior knowledge related to the subject of the training. It is much easier to acquire new knowledge and skills when you are able to connect them to things you already know. 

We have created a simple and easy to use
Learning Method Variety Grid
to help designers determine how passive or active their online, classroom or virtual courses are.


Download the grid

Do you have any questions, comments or reactions? Feel free to share them with us in the forum below. Are you hesitating? You can write to us in private.

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References

Bradbury, N. (2016). Attention span during lectures: 8 seconds, 10 minutes, or more?. Advances In Physiology Education, 40(4), 509-513. doi: 10.1152/advan.00109.2016

Lachaux, J. (2013). Le cerveau attentif. Paris: O. Jacob.

Masson, S. 10 septembre 2019. « Principe 1 : Activation ». Cours Neuroéducation et didactique générale. Montréal : Université de Montréal. Montréal : UQAM.

Masson, S. 17 septembre 2019. « Principe 2 : Activation répétée ». Cours Neuroéducation et didactique générale. Montréal : Université de Montréal. Montréal : UQAM.

Masson, S. (2016). Pour que s’activent les neurones. Les Cahiers pédagogiques, 527, 18-19.

Mukamel, R., Ekstrom, A., Kaplan, J., Iacoboni, M., & Fried, I. (2010). Single-Neuron Responses in Humans during Execution and Observation of Actions. Current Biology, 20(8), 750-756. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2010.02.045

Tokuhama-Espinosa, T. (2018). Neuromyths (pp. 147-149). New York: W.W. Norton & Company.